Once I made sure my pantry would always be stocked with bird-friendly coffee I turned my attention to other bird-friendly food products.  Along with wildlife, food and cooking are favorite interests of mine so why not continue my obsession with bringing bird friendly products into my kitchen?  Turn to bird-friendly maple syrup and other maple products.  Having spent my whole life on the West coast I’d never given much thought to where maple syrup comes from other than observing that the Canadian flag has a maple leaf on it. 

It started with my morning coffee. Following a recent discussion with a friend about how we would never let our money support deforestation, I started thinking more about what products actually do come from the rainforest. Growing up in California in the late 80’s I spent my adolescent years hearing about the destruction of the Amazon, begging my mom to buy Ben and Jerry’s Rainforest Crunch ice cream, and wishing I lived closer to a trendy new Rainforest Café. I thought I was an expert on rainforest preservation matters. I never purchased products sourced from endangered species, and quit eating McDonalds in high school after learning they were cutting down the rainforest to raise cattle. Surely not a cent of my money ever supported the destruction of the Amazon or any other rainforest. Or did it?